


Family

by KillroyWasHere



Series: Twin Byleth Series [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Byleth Twin AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 21:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21167873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillroyWasHere/pseuds/KillroyWasHere
Summary: The Byleth twins have a bond formed in blood and forged in the flames of battle. However, fate is cruel in their workings as their new home seems to drive then further and further apart. How will they manage and cope with this? Can new bonds me made?





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for clicking on this and giving it a chance. I was inspired to write this by some fan art created by @RollingRubic on twitter, go give them a follow if you can. If you like what I have, then I will have notes at the bottom explaining what it is I'm planning and my general timetable of how I'll do it. Thanks again!

"Come on Bylese, it's time to get up." Bylese groaned and rolled towards the wall trying to ignore the voice. "Byleth is already up and he’s about to eat the last of the dried meat. Just thought you would like to know," Jeralt teased. He closed the door again as Bylese rolled over on her back again staring at the ceiling. Food or sleep. After a few moments, she kicked her legs off the bed and walked over to her jacket laying on the floor. A small yawn escaped from her as she threw her jacket on.

She walked into the makeshift kitchen and saw Byleth scarfing down the last of the meat. Out of the 10 strips of beef, only two remained on the plate. He was reaching for another piece when Bylese took the plate and stuffed the beef jerky, chewing them with intensity.

"Asshole," he threw his arms up in exaggerated anger.

"Prick," her words muffled from the food.

"Bastards," Jearlt laugh spread throughout the room. “Bylese stop stealing food like a beggar and Byleth stop eating like your starving it hurts my feelings.”

“Hey,” Byleth threw his arms up again, “if I don’t get to it first she’ll eat the last of it.” “Wouldn’t be that big of a problem if you ate something other than meat every half year.”

Bylese chuckled as she threw him an apple. Byleth’s nose scrunched in disgust. “Just take a bite you big baby, it won’t kill you.”

“At least my hair doesn’t look-” Byleth was cut short as the door slammed open.

“Captain Jeralt! We got company!” One of the mercenaries they ran with came into the room with a little panic on his face. “They’re gonna need some help, sir.”

“So much for a peaceful trip to the Kingdom.” He grumbled under his breath as he walked outside with Byleth close behind. Bylese rushed back to her room and throw on her boots. She looked around the room trying to find her sword and found it covered under her blankets she threw off. Her belt was the last snake she had to find and she panicked as she tore her room apart only to see it was looped around the door handle. She sighed and wrapped herself and rushed back out the door. Bylese stepped out to see three color assorted individuals standing before her father.

“Alright looks like the bandits are still trying to sniff out your scent, we’ll be able to catch them out in the open. Y’all can move over to the village and make sure no one tries to get through.” Jeralt explained to the disheveled group. Their clothes would’ve looked nice if they were pristine but they looked like they’ve been running for most of the night, tree branches and leaves were stuck in each of their respective hairs.

“Thanks boss. Feels good to take a second to breathe without my head almost getting chopped off.” The one with the yellow sash said with a broad smile on his face.

“Please if you need a break so badly after running, I think you lack the kind of stamina demanded of a warrior. I daresay you’ve been slacking on your training,” The one with the red sash boomed with a confident voice. Bylese paused a little when seeing her, there was something different about this one.

“Oh please, don’t act like I can’t see you panting like a dog over there, I ‘daresay’ you’re in just as bad a shape as I am.” Yellow spit back.

“Please, this type of demeaning talk is unbefitting of-” Bylese stopped paying attention as Jeralt and Byleth left shaking their heads as they clambered up on their mounts. Bylese started to mount up until Jeralt took the reins from her.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re on babysitting duty for this one.”

“You can’t do this! You promised that I could take the lead on the next mission! Come on dad, you can’t do this!” Bylese protested.

“Hey, you’re the one that stayed up reading all night again. You look half asleep as is, I can’t take you onto a battlefield like this. Watch the kids and don’t die. Make the most of it, I guess.” They rode off with the rest of the mercenaries as Bylese turned towards her new headache.

“Well… I guess it's a good a time as any to practice small squad tactics.” Bylese sighed as she faced her new charges.

“Hello, we’re from-” the Blue sash started. “Save it, we’ll do the introductions later. As for now, you’re going to be known as Red, Blue, Yellow,” she pointed at each one to confirm that they knew who they were now. “My names Bylese, try not to forget it. Now here’s the plan. If we come into contact with anyone Blue you’ll protect Yellow as he shoots them from afar and Red’s with me as we pin them down. If we get separated, find your battle buddy and head into town. Any questions?” None of them raised their hands but Red kept looking over Bylese head.

“What’s the matter Red, looks like you got something on your mind?” Bylese looked over her shoulder and couldn’t find anything of note other than trees.

“It's nothing pertinent, let’s get moving.” Red’s face was a twinged blushed. Bylese shrugged and chopped it up to all the running shes been doing. She motioned them to follow her and took up positions just outside of town.

Out in the field, there was very little to do as Bylese was stretching and yawning. Bylese as doing everything she could to try and get herself fully awake but nothing was working.

“Seems like your father was right, you’re way too tired to be out here. Why don’t you go ahead and sit down somewhere?” Blue said with compassion.

“You kidding me, I do my best work on the verge of collapse.” Bylese laughed off throwing her arms behind her head. “It's my fault, shouldn’t have stayed up so late reading again.” She mumbled under her breath. “It wouldn’t be fair of me to go ahead and let you guys stand guard, I imagine your more exhausted than me.”

“Well it's like you said, I do my best work when I desperately wanna pass out,” Yellow said fidgeting with an arrow, his smile had faded. They all looked like they were at their limit. If anything serious were to come their way things would quickly get out of hand. Bylese took a deep breath, casting aside her exhaustion and focused on one thing, protecting them. Red looked over at Bylese and was about to comment but rustling and shouting were coming from a forest across the field.

“It would appear that we have company.” Red took a battle stance while Yellow notched an arrow. Blue moved next to the archer and lowered his spear ready for anything. Bylese started to walk towards the forest with the axe-wielding girl close behind. Stopping about halfway between the forest and the second team.

After a tense moment, a man surged from the forest with a sick smile that sent shivers down Bylese’s spine. Despite seeing the worst of humanity on an almost daily basis there was something inhuman about him. It was clear what his intentions were with the village. Before the man could come any close an arrow lodged itself into his left eye, his lifeless body falling forward. He was shortly followed by more and more, a small horde trickled out of the woods.

“Red, kill anyone that gets behind me.” Bylese strode forward flourishing her blade, clearing her mind of all thoughts and finally, she breathed out a long sigh.

* * *

Speed and precision, that is all Bylese had. She never had the strength of her brother and try as she might she has yet to catch up to her father in terms of skill. However, speed was enough to take care of the bandits. A throat slash here, a stab through the heart there and suddenly all the bandits tried to give her a wide berth as they ran towards the village. They never got far, between the precise arrows peppering them, the flash of the blade and the crushing bite of an axe. Everything was going great as the bodies littered the ground. Then, everything went to hell and back.

“I’m out!” Bylese heard Yellow shout from the back. It wasn’t a deal-breaker as it seemed the bandits were dwindling in number and some were starting to break and run away. Then came the screaming, one of the previously thought dead bodies leaped up shortly after Yellows call out and blitzed Red down. Bylese turned around and saw that Red had fallen behind, her axe stuck in the shield of a dead bandit.

Bylese’s heart stopped for a moment, there wasn’t enough time for her to block the attack but maybe just enough time to get in the way. Bylese dropped her sword and sprinted towards Red as the woman drew her dagger trying to establish a defense. Bylese was faster than the bandit by a hair and tackled Red to the ground, Bylese turned her neck and saw the axe bearing down on her left leg.

Time started to slow and she saw the blade was about to dig in, then everything stopped. When she next opened her eyes she was in a throne room surrounded by a void. She looked around trying to grasp what was happening.

“What were you thinking?! We share the same body so I would appreciate it if you didn’t fling yourself into danger every chance you get!” Bylese swung around and saw that a little girl was laying across the throne, an annoyed face greeting Bylese.

“Well, would you rather I let her die?” Bylese shot back.

“Well- I- Shut up that’s not what I meant!” she said flustered. “All I ask is that you take better care of _our_ body.”

“What do you mean ‘our’ body? Who are you?” A puzzled look fell on the strange girl’s face like she was trying to grasp something.

“I don’t quite remember. It's been a while since I was last awake.” She sat upright with a frustrated look on her face. “I should be able to remember this… Ah well, a problem for later. Now onto you.” In the void, a picture of Bylese’s point of view appeared, the axe inches away from cutting into her leg. “What are we going to do about this? Quite the tricky situation you’ve put us in.” Bylese swallowed her pride and ignored the constant attempts to blame her.

“If you can stop time, would it not be safe to assume that you can also turn it back?” “Oh! I can turn back the hands of time! How could I forget about that?” A devious look crept over her face as she looked at the situation. “On the other hand, that wound doesn’t look too deep. I’m sure you’ll survive this somehow.”

“What?! You aren’t going to help me, why?!” Bylese was outraged that she has been nothing but tolerable to this little munchkin’s antics and now she wants her to suffer.

“Just think of it as a lesson; don’t throw yourself into danger needlessly.” She yawned. “This all so very tiring.” “Okay, next time I’ll make sure it's a mortal wound. That way you have a stake in this fight too.” “How dare you!” Before she could continue Bylese raised her hand for silence.

“Can I just go back, I think I have a plan.”

“Oh, do you care to share?” She leaned forward in her throne with a curious look.

“Nah, you’ll just have to watch. In horror…” she mumbled. Bylese closed her eyes and she felt herself return. Opening her eyes again, time was still crawling as the axe head slowly dug into her leg just below the knee cap. It took everything in her to not cry out and close her eyes, however, she needed to see when time sped up. The momentum of the tackle was a blessing as it prevented the axe from biting into her leg and causing more damage.

As soon as she felt the ground under her again, she bolted back up, her leg screaming in pain. She looked at the bandit, empty-handed and wounded. She breathed slowly and started to hobble to the side, trying to circle him. The man followed suit going in the opposite direction.

“This has gone to shit but oh man, this is going to be enjoyable, seeing the life drain from your eyes, screaming for mercy. Oooh man, once I’m done with you, I’ll finally be able to kill those damned brats. The payday off their heads will make this all worth it.” He kept boasting about the money and his imminent victory, however, he still tried to stay away from Bylese. He knew that even with a lame leg and no sword if he messed up, he would die a painful death. This was the kindest compliment she could have gotten that day.

* * *

Edelgard laid on the ground watching the man slowly turn his back to her, his attention solely on this strange woman. Without a second doubt, she threw herself in harm’s way to save a stranger. And now, she was banking everything on her to catch onto her plan. Edelgard gripped her dagger tight and laid motionless waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Agonizing seconds pass, each one causing Edelgards breath to grow shorter, her nerves a wreck and sweat running down her head. Then the time came, she was in his blind spot completely. In one fluid motion, she leaped off the floor and drove the dagger deep into his back.

He bellowed in agony which was sweet to her ears, however, that joy was replaced with pain as the bandit sent an elbow back into her face causing her to flop back to the floor dazed. She looked up meekly as the man raised his axe in rage, fury on his face. Edelgard closed her eyes, tears forming. Her life wasted saving some random mercenary, her dream, her revenge never coming to fruition. She was infuriated that this would be how she died, her incompetence betraying her. Shame was all she felt as she waited for the end.

But the end never came, Edelgard opened her eyes and say Bylese wrapped around the man’s neck trying to choke him. He had dropped the axe and was desperately fighting to get her off his back. He threw his elbows into her gut, punched and clawed at her face. Edelgard tried to get back on her feet to try and help but she couldn’t quite muster the strength to get on her feet.

The man grasped at anything and eventually found her hair and pulled on it. Bylese instinctively let go of his neck and fought to free her hair. The bandit flung Bylese over his shoulder and onto the ground. She writhed and gasped as the man bent over exhausted.

He pulled the knife out of his back and looked down at them too, then the sound of horses and fighting crept into each of their ears. He looked back at the forest he ran out of with fear. He kept glancing between the two unsure what to do and eventually dropped the knife running away. She watched him run into the mountains thankful that she was still alive. This wasn’t how this day was supposed to go. Edelgard looked over at the stranger, her chest was still rising and falling.

“You still awake?” Edelgard groaned. She struggled to sit upright feeling her head swarm with pain and dizziness.

“I’m not dead if that's what you’re asking. Although, with this amount of pain in my leg, I kinda regret it.” Edelgard chuckled and gazed towards the sky. The sky was that beautiful blend of blue and orange only seen as the sun signals the dawn of a new day. “Every time I look at the dawn, I’m blown away by its beauty,” Bylese was mumbling.

“Just one more reason to keep going,” Edelgard agreed. Bylese looked at the dawn and smiled.

* * *

Bylese groaned as she brought herself, wincing when she tried to put weight on her leg. Red was still laying on the ground so she hobbled over to her and offered her a hand.

“Come on Red, ain’t gonna get anything done if you lie there all day.” Bylese chuckled as Red took her hand and stood next to her.

“How you feeling?” Bylese asked.

“I’ve had better days but I can still walk.” Bylese let out a bellowing laugh causing Red to back away some, unsure what to do.

“Excellently said Red!” She painfully hobbled over to where her sword was laying in the grass and returned it to its scabbard. She lifted her head and saw Blue and Yellow heading their way. She turned around and saw that Red had followed her, she took the opportunity to lean against her and rest her leg.

“Guys, you alright?” Yellow yelled out before reaching them. “We tried to get here sooner but some more guys ran out of the woods and we had to chase them off.” He glanced down at Bylese’s bloodied leg. “Looks like we should have tried a bit harder.”

“By the Goddess, are you okay enough to walk?” Blue moved next to Bylese to try and support her but she waved him off, kneeling in the grass and taking a closer look at her gash. It didn’t look all that deep just but it was still bleeding a decent amount. She was mostly annoyed that the axe cut her favorite pair of stockings.

“Hey Red, can I get your sash for a second?” After a moment, Red took off the sash on her shoulder and handed it down to Bylese, who started to wrap it around her leg. “Thanks, I promise I’ll try to get the blood out of it later.” She snickered. Red shook her head and squeezed the bridge of her nose.

“No, it's fine. I have plenty more back at the monastery.” Bylese cocked her head and looked up at the three.

“Monastery, I didn’t take you guys for priests. Or is that some kind of joke?” Blue opened his mouth but horsemen rode out of the forest and atop them sat Byleth and Jeralt. “Oh no, not now.” She tried to hobble out of sight but she couldn’t escape the sight of her brother. He rode over to her and cut off her escape.

“Hey sis, how you doing? See you got yourself a little bit of a limp there, wanna explain that?” He laughed as he dismounted and stood before her.

“Well you see, I took an axe to the leg taking care of Red over there. Nothing major just hurts.”

“Nothing major,” Byleth chuckled. “Looks like a few inches deeper and we’d have to carry your ass to the grave. Once dad finds out he’s gonna flip on you. ”

“When I find out about what?” Jeralt had snuck up on Bylese and was dismounting behind her.

“Bylese took an axe to the knee. Looks like you were right to take me to fight the main host. Bylese could barely hold her own here.”

“Shut up Byleth, no need to rub it in. Let me take a look.” Jeralt bent down removing the sash and took a moment to assess the wound. “Nothing too serious should heal up on its own in a couple of days. Don’t need to use any magic for this, just some herbal remedies. Think of it as a lesson to get your sleep Bylese.”

“Oh not you too,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing important.” Jeralt stopped for a moment but decided to drop it.

“Doesn’t matter either way. You did a good job considering there’s more here than I would have thought. About twenty to thirty bodies here. Y’all held out by yourselves?” Jeralt looked over the battlefield with a probing gaze.

“To be fair, Bylese and Edelgard did most of the work. We took out any stragglers,” Blue commented.

“Hey don’t sell me short here Dimitri, I took out my fair share of them with my bow,” Yellow whined.

“While that may be true, you also announced to the entire battlefield that you ran out of arrows. Which ultimately got our companion injured. Very thoughtless of you, Claude.” Edelgard had a scowling look, which somehow still made her look beautiful.

“Well, you’re safe now. So we’ll just be on our way and you guys can head back to the monastery.” Jeralt walked over to his horse and was about to mount up when Dimitri tugged on his shoulder.

“Are you not going to give us a chance to thank our saviors? I dare say without you we would have surely been slain.” Edelgard and Claude nodded their heads in agreement.

“I’m not sure if I could have run anymore, to be honest. I was pretty tuckered out when we stumbled upon you.” Claude rubbed the back of his head and laughed.

“Yes, it would almost seem as if fate guided us towards you.” Edelgard was staring directly at Bylese when she said this. Bylese cocked her head again and looked at the others to see if they were seeing the same thing as her.

“Look I appreciate the kind words but we should really head out before-” Clomping hooves in the forest halted his words and he stared into the woods with building dread. “Too late,” he sighed and patted his horse on its head.

Out of the woods came riders atop armored steeds and wore thick white plate armor. The twins looked at them and back to their father whose frown was growing.

“Run you rapscallions!... Where did they go?” A man with brown hair and a boisterous voice looked over the battlefield his eyes catching a glimpse of Jeralt. “Captain is that you!?” Even a good distance away they could hear his laughter as he rode towards them.

“Old friend of yours?” Byleth dismounted and leaned on his father’s shoulder.

“Regrettably yes.” Byleth moved his hand over his sword and motioned towards the rider silently asking for permission. “Calm down Byleth. He’s not a threat to anyone, he’s a good man. An annoying one.” The man jumped off the horse even before it was fully stopped causing him to faceplant into the dirt. With the grace of a cow, he bounces back up and runs to Jeralt.

“It's been forever since I last saw you! How you’ve been, old friend?” He wrapped himself around Jeralt giving him a giant bear hug and lifting him off the ground.

“I see you’re just as affectionate as the last time I saw you, Alois. And just as loud…”

“Ha Ha! Of course old friend, I’ve only grown better over the last twenty years! What brings you back to the monastery?” An infectious smile started to spread across Bylese’s face. She had to suppress a giggle from watching her father squirm from Aolis’ bombastic attitude.

“Nothing brought me back, I had a job at the nearby village and we were just about to leave when your students came out of the forest being chased by bandits.” Alois’ smile faded for a moment and a mournful look appeared.

“Yes, it's quite regrettable that the bandits got the drop on us. We would have never thought that they would have dared to get that close to Garreg Mach like that. But it all turned out in the end, right? Just like the old days, you coming out of nowhere and saving the day!” His smile came back and he slapped Jeralt on the back laughing.

“Yeah, bad habits die hard…” Jeralt sighed.

“Oh don’t be that way Captain,” Alois frowned again. “Hey, who are these two,” pointing at the twins. He squinted at them looking them up and down. “These aren’t your kids are they?”

“Yeah, they’re my kids. My bundles of _joy_,” Jeralt was shaking his head. Alois locked Jeralt in the head and playfully nudged his hair.

“You had kids and you never came back to visit, I thought we were closer than that!” Alois roared with laughter as Jeralt struggled to get out. “So which one’s the older one?”

“That would be me,” Bylese raised her hand. “I’m Bylese by the way.” She extended her hand out and Alois took it in a firm shake.

“So well mannered! You raised her right.”

“Hey, you are only older by a few minutes, don’t even try to pull that crap off,” he shoved her out of the way causing her to tumble over onto her leg. She bit the inside of her cheek to not cry out in pain. “I’m Byleth, the stronger twin.”

“Wait, Bylese and Byleth? Did you name them the same Jeralt?” Alois tried to hide his snicker as Jeralt shook his head.

“I panicked alright, I couldn’t think of a different name. They’re spelled differently.” Edelgard knelt over next to Bylese and offered her hand and pulled her back up. Bylese leaned on her for support lifting her left leg slightly off the ground.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“Just paying you back is all,” Edelgard responded.

“So, how are you gonna pay me back for saving your life?” Bylese joked. Edelgard looked away, from what little Bylese was able to catch, she had a pained look as if she knew something she didn’t. Bylese turned her focus back onto the main conversation.

“Why don’t you guys come on over to the monastery? Everyone will be ecstatic to see you again!” Alois proclaimed.

“I guess we don’t really have a choice do we,” Jeralt sighed. “It’ll be a good resting spot for Bylese. Alright, we’ll do it.”

“Ha Ha, come on Captain! Don’t sound so sad about coming back, Lady Rhea has missed you over the past twenty years! Won’t it be great to see her again?” Alois slapped him on the back and followed him to the encampment. Byleth walked over to Bylese and handed her some bandages.

“All jokes aside, good work out there sis.” Bylese took the bandages with a thankful nod and started to unwrap the sash.

“Thanks Byleth, how was the company?” Bylese started to wrap the bandages around her leg, the wrap turning red from the blood. After the second time around the blood stopped bleeding through.

“Ah man, it was great! I barely had to do any work out there, I’m impressed at how well you’ve been training them. It’s almost like they knew what I was going to say before I said it. You’ve got a gift for it,” Byleth pulled Bylese up and walked her to the wagon. She turned around and motioned for the other three to follow them.

“Yeah, you’ll have to tell me about it in the wagon.”

* * *

A much-needed chance to rest came to Bylese as she rode with Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, and Byleth. The students and Bylese were thankful for what little rest they got as Byleth told stories about his life and accomplishments on the field of battle. Bylese’s head kept dropping until finally, she laid her head on the shoulder next to her, Edelgard. She sat there frozen unsure what to do as moments after, she heard soft snoring coming from the wounded warrior.

“Well, there goes my plan of buttering her up and asking her to come back to the Leicester Alliance with me,” Claude laid back in the wagon watching the birds fly by.

“Of course you would pester her about it before she even recovered Claude. So tactless as usual.” Edelgard turned her nose away from him in mock disgust.

“Oh please, princess don’t act like you weren’t buttering her up yourself. Why else would you sit next to her? I was worried if I waited for any longer you would pounce on her,” he chuckled.

“I must admit, I am curious to see if she would come to the kingdom,” Dimitri joined in rubbing his chin.

“Okay, I guess I am chopped liver over here.” Byleth pouted and slumped down in his seat.

“I meant no disrespect, it's just that I didn’t get to see you in battle as I saw her.” Dimitri floundered.

“Yeah, we gotta see the goods before we can start bidding,” Claude joked.

“As crass as he put it, he’s right. We don’t quite know what you are capable of, only the stories that you’ve told us… which sounds biased at some parts.” Edelgard continued.

“Oh I see, I just gotta prove I’m better than her and you’ll throw yourselves at me. That should be as easy as those bandits were.” Edelgard looked at the sleeping warrior while the man continued his tales.

“I never got the chance to tell her she has bedhead.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, as you saw at the beginning I was influenced by the art of @RollingRubic on twitter and if you saw that art too, then you should know I am not going to follow it one to one. I fell in love with the Twin Byleth AU and I couldn't get it out of my head so I started writing and plotting. Now I have massive plans that I want to share with the rest of you.  
I'll try to produce a chapter every 1-2 weeks but at least once a month. I expect it to be about 4-5 thousand words each time depending on where we are in the story.  
I'll be canon-compliant for the most part with some things being changed for the twin part. Once we reach the time skip is where I will heavily go off course and write my vision. I'll add more tags when they become relevant.  
I would be grateful for anything you are willing to give, whether it be a kudos or a comment. All criticism is welcome as I want to improve as a writer, so please feel free to speak as you want. Thank you again for reading and I hope you'll join me on this journey.


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